The Interscholastic League of Honolulu's Division II girls basketball race will be decided on the regular season's final day.

Or maybe even later.

St. Francis created a three-way tie for first place last night by holding off previously unbeaten La Pietra, 58-55, before a vocal crowd of about 400 at Damien Gym. The Troubadours improved to 11-1, same as La Pietra and Punahou.

In regular-season finales, St. Francis will play at Hawai'i Baptist (8-3) and La Pietra will host Word of Life (7-3) on Tuesday, and Punahou is at Iolani (4-6) on Wednesday. If there is a tie after that, the teams will have a playoff to determine the regular-season championship.

"This makes it a three-way tie, so the girls are really excited," St. Francis coach Paul Tanaka said. "We lost to Punahou by one point in overtime, so we were hoping we could be tied with them (at season's end). And it's so neat that the small schools have stepped it up."

The Troubadours stepped it up in the final four minutes last night, especially on defense. After La Pietra's Courtney Gaddis scored her 28th and 29th points on free throws with 4:07 remaining to cut St. Francis' lead to 51-49, the Troubadours switched to a "box-and-one" defense and did not allow Gaddis to score the rest of the game.

Gaddis scored 12 points in the first period and had converted 13 of 14 free throws, but St. Francis' Bryanna Batts held her scoreless in the final four minutes despite playing with four fouls.

"In practice this week, we had one of our coaches be like Courtney and they told me I couldn't let her get the ball," Batts said. "We knew we had to stop her. My coach told me (in the final quarter), 'Just play her close, but try not to foul.' "

Lady Panthers coach Anthony Czaja said his team did not respond well to the box-and-one.

"We sort of expected it, and Courtney tried to step it up," Czaja said. "But we didn't share the ball well enough and attack the other four girls (playing) the box. Actually, we struggled to get into our offense all night. Any time you play against a zone, you need to be patient and wait for a good open shot, and we didn't do that."

Batts hit a banker to put the Troubadours up, 56-49, with 2:56 remaining, but they missed several free throws down the stretch to keep La Pietra's hopes alive. Leah Kaina hit a 17-foot banker with about 15 seconds left to cut it to 58-55, and St. Francis missed two free throws with six ticks remaining.

But the Lady Panthers failed to get another shot off before the horn.

"I told the girls we still lost none of our season goals," Czaja said. "Now it's a one-game season, and if we win we still have a chance at the title. It's been a while since we lost, but we need to use this loss to come together as a team."

Siutiti Takai led St. Francis with 19 points before fouling out with 2:41 remaining.

LA PIETRA (11-1) 21 12 6 16 — 55

ST. FRANCIS (11-1) 15 16 13 14 — 58

LA PIETRA — Sarah Peoples 3, Charity Caracol 0, Courtney Gaddis 29, Megan Giles 4, Leah Kaina 8, Jasmine Kimura 0, Tihon Nguyen 2, Ashanti Shih 0, Megan Berardy 9. Totals 17 21-30 55.

ST. FRANCIS — Visha Bungo 0, Nicole Perry 5, Kanani Perry 13, Danielle Tanaka 8, Bryanna Batts 6, Maile Kimura 3, Jaimie Iwashita 4, Kacee Coito 0, Siutiti Takai 19. Totals 21 14-33 58. 3-point goals—La Pietra none; St. Francis 2 (Tanaka, Perry).

PUNAHOU 87, HAWAI'I BAPTIST 84 (3OT)

Arielle Daniels scored 26 points, Carly Wachi added 18 and Aubrie Lau 12, helping the visiting Buffanblu defeat the Eagles in triple overtime.

Punahou, with its second overtime victory of the season, improved to 10-1. Hawai'i Baptist fell to 8-3.

Jodi Kamemoto scored 36 points, Janine Diehl 17 and Carissa Onuma 13 for HBA.

PUNAHOU (10-1) 14 16 19 12 11 6 9—87

HBA (8-3) 13 17 18 13 11 6 6—84

PUNAHOU—Megan Akamine 2, Aubrie Lau 12, Carly Wachi 18, Taila Autele 3, Kaliko Fernandes 8, Sarah Aratani 4, Erin Moon 4, Kelsie Gomes 2, Francina Savusa 0, Jessica Letoto 2, Erin Nagata 2, Pomai Stone 0, Yuree Nam 4, Arielle Daniels 26. Totals 28 24-47 87.

HAWAI'I BAPTIST—Jodi Kamemoto 36, Candace Yonashiro 2, Adrienne Kishimoto 0, Narissa Fujii 0, Ashley Salado 1, Angie Lee 8, Carissa Onuma 13, Stacie Sueda 0, Janine Diehl 17, Tiffany Chang 7, Leah Shizuru 0. Totals 25 32-49 84. 3-point goals—Punahou 7 (Lau 3, Wachi 3, Daniels 1). Hawai'i Baptist 2 (Kamemoto, Onuma).

Reported by Deren Oshiro

ILH DIVISION I

IOLANI 60, SACRED HEARTS 35

Jamie Smith scored 14 points, and Chanel Hirata and Keilyn Fujioka each added 10 as the Raiders rolled past the Lancers in an ILH Division I game.

Iolani improved to 8-1, while Sacred Hearts, led by Samantha Saito with 11 points, fell to 2-7.

SACRED HEARTS (2-7) 6 6 14 9—35

IOLANI (8-1) 17 12 11 20—60

SACRED HEARTS—Samantha Saito 11, Jessica Lindsay 0, Rebecca Debo 8, Karis Moi-Simeona 2, Ashley Ordenstein 4, Raecha-Ann Kauahikaua 2, Samantha Valle 2, Kuhina Luis 6. Totals 13 8-12 35.

IOLANI—Kaz Masutani 2, Chelsea Unemori 0, Hennasea-Sue Tokumura 3, Alana Matayoshi 6, Chanel Hirata 10, Marci Kang 0, Alana Wall 6, Jamie Smith 14, Meilin Akamu 0, Sarah Turgeon 2, Keilyn Fujioka 10, Megan Burton 7. Totals 27 4-6 60.

3-point goals—Sacred Hearts 1 (Saito). Iolani 2 (Hirata 2).

Reported by Stu Matsunami

OIA RED EAST

KAHUKU 60, KAISER 43

Artevia Wily scored 20 points and the Red Raiders beat the Cougars in an O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red East Division game played at McKinley. Sharde Pratt led Kaiser with 21 points.

KAHUKU (8-4) 20 12 8 20—60

KAISER (4-8) 12 9 14 8—43

KAHUKU—Camilla Ah-Hoy 14, Lenora Nauahi 0, Lily Latu 7, Brittney Fesolai 0, Krystal Manguba-Glover 1, Artevia Wily 20, Nicole Nautu 1, Kaimi Ah Puck 5, Salote Livai 4, Kenra Moe 0, Christine Meredith 8. Totals 24 8-18 60.

KAISER—Aja Yamamoto 0, Amber Nakachi 6, Chelsy Okuma 5, Keely Bitanga 11, Renee Shitanishi 0, Sharde Pratt 21, Tiare Kepa 0. Totals 15 13-27 43. 3-point goals—Kahuku 4 (Wily 4). Kaiser none. JV—Kahuku 57, Kaiser 25

Reported by Dayna Unemoto

KALAHEO 45, MOANALUA 34

Shanadee Canon scored 22 points and the visiting Mustangs raced to a 30-13 halftime lead to beat Na Menehune. Britni Ronolo led Moanalua with 18 points.

KALAHEO (9-3) 16 14 4 11—45

MOANALUA (4-8) 8 5 14 7—34

KALaHEO—Hoku Kaiu-Denning 0, Delicia Wilson 4, Lohi Aweau 0, Nova Bird 2, Anu Ah Yun 0, Shanadee Canon 22, Brianne Villarosa 2, Caira Pires 0, Katie Lintz 0, Kendra Fischer 5, Kaliko Kepa 10. Totals 14 12-26 45.

MOANALUA—Brianna Lagat-Ramos 0, Jade Miller 4, Michelle Hourdy 2, Kimberly Sato 0, Indah Widyakasuma 0, Janelle Uncageo 0, Jamie Ronolo 3, Britni Ronolo 18, Terina Blue 0, Nikol Felder 7. Totals 13 8-16 34. 3-point goals—Kalaheo 5 (Canon 3, Fischer 1, Wilson 1). Moanalua none. JV—Moanalua def. Kalaheo, score not available

Reported by Chico Furtado

OIA RED WEST

RADFORD 31, LEILEHUA 28

Chelsea-Ann Villanueva scored 11 points and the Rams held off a fourth-quarter surge by the Mules in an OIA Red West game at McKinley gym.

RADFORD (11-1) 5 14 8 4—31

LEILEHUA (7-5) 8 6 6 8—28

RADFORD—Leslie Lazo 0, Nicole Grebe 0, Celina Cruz 0, Ashley Rioux 0, Marlena Malepeai 6, Francis Respicio 0, Brittini Fuller 4, Kiara Dykes 0, Kamia Smith 8, Chelsea-Ann Villanueva 11, Gabby Rellin 0, Marsharen DuPont 0, Chadney Thompson 2. Totals 10 9-23 31.

LEILEHUA—Ui Forgione 2, Ivanca Ilab 1, Cassy Borromeo 0, Gabby Pascua 0, Mahela Punley 0, Ashley Momiyama 0, Charlene Borromeo 4, Justina Mason 0, Brittaney Stafford 8, Isis Atualevao 4, Marquesha McVea 9, Sha'nee' Henderson 0. Totals 10 7-12 28. 3-point goals—Radford 2 (Smith 2). Leilehua 1 (Stafford).

Reported by Jeselle Macalma

OIA WHITE

CASTLE 43, KAILUA 37

Ui Kekauoha scored 15 points, helping the visiting Knights hold off the Surfriders in an OIA White Conference game.

CASTLE (7-3) 9 13 10 11—43

KAILUA (2-8) 6 7 11 13—37

CASTLE—Candyce Ames 3, Niki Kobashigawa 0, Kelsie Sasaki 8, Honey Girl Ho-Pedro 0, Ui Kekauoha 15, Tracie Kam 2, Ette Ameperosa 0, Sa'o Lefotu 0, Leighla Kalahiki 0, Shanyn Fafard-Kaaihue 9, Titi Kawainui 6, Rachel Walker 0 .Totals 14 14-18 43.

KAILUA—Kristen Corrales 9, Zsalei Kamaka 7, Daneen Williams 9, Ashley Jacobs 2, Tiana McKeague 2, Netia Ulugaono 4, Nathaniel Nault 2, team 2. Totals 13 8-16 37.

3-point goals—Castle 1 (Ames). Kailua 1 (Corrales). JV—Castle 43, Kailua 32

Reported by Roz Ching

WAIPAHU 47, WAI'ANAE 41

Krissaundra Noga scored 25 points and the visiting Marauders outscored the Seariders 10-4 in overtime.

WAIPAHU (3-7) 11 8 2 16 10—47

WAI'ANAE (0-9) 14 4 12 7 4—41

WAIPAHU—Kristen Balanay 1, Ashley Garcia 2, April Tolete 11, Berndalyn Drub 0, Krissaundra Noga 25, Demi Samson 1, Joyce Baptista 5, Alicia Ragudos 2. Totals 16 13-20 47.

WAI'ANAE—Danielle Lovell 6, Brittni Dinong 0, Kahea Kelii 4, Afi Tago 4, Keshia Holbron 0, Priscilla Mathewson 6, Genevieve Cuesta 1, Kuuipo Badayos 9, Melody Moe 11. Totals 17 7-21 41.

3-point goals—Waipahu 2 (Noga, Baptista). Wai'anae none. JV—Wai'anae 57, Waipahu 21

Reported by Kevin Nakamoto

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.